Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on external recruitment consultants in each of the financial years (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22, and (c) 2022-23.

The information is not centrally held in the form requested. Government external expenditure will include Civil Service fast stream, public appointments, workforce planning, and on training and development.

Identifying spending specifically on using consultancies to recruit temporary or permanent staff could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.